Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CONTEXT: Clinicians assess the growth of preterm infants and compare growth velocity using a abstract
variety of methods.
OBJECTIVE: We determined the numerical methods used to describe weight, length, and head
circumference growth velocity in preterm infants; these methods include grams/kilogram/
day (g/kg/d), grams/day (g/d), centimeters/week (cm/week), and change in z scores.
DATA SOURCES: A search was conducted in April 2015 of the Medline database by using PubMed
for studies that measured growth as a main outcome in preterm neonates between birth
and hospital discharge and/or 40 weeks’ postmenstrual age. English, French, German, and
Spanish articles were included. The systematic review was conducted by using Preferred
Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses methods.
STUDY SELECTION: Of 1543 located studies, 373 (24%) calculated growth velocity.
DATA EXTRACTION: We conducted detailed extraction of the 151 studies that reported g/kg/d
weight gain velocity.
RESULTS: A variety of methods were used. The most frequently used method to calculate
weight gain velocity reported in the 1543 studies was g/kg/d (40%), followed by g/d
(32%); 29% reported change in z score relative to an intrauterine or growth chart. In the
g/kg/d studies, 39% began g/kg/d calculations at birth/admission, 20% at the start of the
study, 10% at full feedings, and 7% after birth weight regained. The kilogram denominator
was not reported for 62%. Of the studies that did report the denominators, the majority
used an average of the start and end weights as the denominator (36%) followed by
exponential methods (23%); less frequently used denominators included birth weight
(10%) and an early weight that was not birth weight (16%). Nineteen percent (67 of 355
studies) made conclusions regarding extrauterine growth restriction or postnatal growth
failure. Temporal trends in head circumference growth and length gain changed from
predominantly cm/wk to predominantly z scores.
LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The lack of standardization of methods used to calculate preterm
infant growth velocity makes comparisons between studies difficult and presents an
obstacle to using research results to guide clinical practice.
aDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Institute of Public Health, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, and cCumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada; bNutrition Services, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; dUC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California; eClínica del Country, Universidad el Bosque,
Bogotá, Colombia; fUniversity of Iowa Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa; gCase Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; hCHU de Liege, CHR de la Citadelle, University
of Liege, Liege, Belgium; iBaylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; and jYale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
To cite: Fenton TR, Chan HT, Madhu A, et al. Preterm Infant Growth Velocity Calculations: A Systematic Review. Pediatrics. 2017;139(3):e20162045
Measuring growth velocity in documented to alter results by as between studies and centers difficult,
preterm infants is of crucial much as 73% in g/kg/d estimates. if not impossible. The additional
importance because poor growth research is large enough to justify
is associated with severe long-term We believe that research is needed additional articles; we view this
outcomes.11–13 Growth patterns of to identify which methods to article as the first of a series.
preterm infants have changed with quantify preterm infant growth are
recent advances in medical14–16 and superior and which are inferior. We hypothesized that a systematic
nutritional14,17–19 care. Researchers
We also see a need to make review to describe the range of
in several countries have observed
recommendations to achieve some numerical summary methods used
that rates of growth failure have
uniformity of methods used so the in the literature to calculate growth
declined in the past decade.14,18,19
neonatal community can achieve velocity of early preterm infants,
Our previous research revealed that
the best conclusions about growth and to quantify the frequency of
compared with infants born between
and to support comparisons across each method, would identify a
1994 and 1995, infants born between
research studies. This initial article large variety of methods. The
2001 and 2009 regained their
by our group defines the range of purpose of the present study was
birth weight sooner after birth and
growth velocity methods used by the to determine the frequency
experienced higher rates of weight
neonatal community; it describes of numerical methods used to
gain.17
the problem of using many different quantify growth velocity (weight
Several investigators have identified methods, making comparisons gain as g/kg/d, grams/day [g/d],
that researchers use a variety of
methods to summarize growth
velocity of preterm infants.20–22 TABLE 1 Frequency of Methods Used to Report Weight Gain in the Studies of Preterm Infant Weight
Assessing grams/kilogram/day (g/ Gain Before Term Age, Before and After 2005, in the 1543 Located Studies
kg/d) calculation methods for birth Variable g/d g/kg/d Z Score
until discharge, Patel et al21,23 and Overall 120 (32%) 151 (40%) 108 (29%)
Senterre and Rigo,20 in separate <2005* 71 (59%) 67 (44%) 21 (19%)
analyses, found that different 2005–2015* 49 (41%) 84 (56%) 87 (81%)
calculation methods have been * P < .001.
METHODS
A search was conducted of the
Medline database in April 2015 for
published studies that reported
growth as a main outcome in
preterm infants between birth and
hospital discharge or 40 weeks’
postmenstrual age. The systematic
review methods recommended
by the Preferred Reporting Items
for Systematic Reviews and Meta-
analyses statement24 were used.
Search terms included the Medical
Subject Headings and text words:
(“Infant, Premature”[Mesh]
OR “Infant, Very Low Birth
Weight”[Mesh]) and (“Weight
Gain”[Mesh] OR “growth velocity”
OR (weight and “rate of growth”)
OR ((“g/kg/day” OR “g/kg/d”) and
weight) OR ((z-score OR z-scores
OR “SD score” OR “SD scores”) and
change and weight)).
This search was conducted in
Medline (PubMed), and it was
not limited by date of publication.
Intervention and observational
studies were included in English,
French, Spanish, and German
languages. Because our objective FIGURE 2
Temporal trends of the frequency of reported weight gain calculations for preterm infants before
was to quantify the methods used term age: (A) g/kg/d, (B) g/d, and (C) z scores.
in the published literature, authors
were not contacted for additional
information, and studies were
TABLE 4 Frequencies of Methods Used to Report Head Circumference and Length Growth in the 151 Studies That Reported Weight Gain as g/kg/d for
Preterm Infants
Variable Head Circumference (n = 74 [49%]) Length (n = 74 [49%])
cm/wk Change in Z Scores cm/wk Change in Z Scores
Overall 46 (61%) 20 (27%) 44 (59%) 18 (24%)
<2005* 28 (61%) 1 (5%) 27 (61%) 1 (6%)
2005–2015* 18 (39%) 19 (95%) 17 (39%) 17 (94%)
* P < .001 for changes over time for both head circumference and length.
Dr Fenton led the design of the study, independently extracted and verified raw data from publications, conducted the initial analysis, and drafted the initial
manuscript; and Dr Fenton, Mr Chan, Ms Madhu, Ms Carlson, and Drs Griffin, Groh-Wargo, Hoyos, Senterre, and Ziegler independently extracted and verified raw
data from publications. All authors helped design the study, assisted in the preparation of the manuscript, approved the final manuscript as submitted, and
agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-2045
Accepted for publication Dec 12, 2016
Address correspondence to Tanis R. Fenton, PhD, RD, FDC, Nutrition Services, Alberta Health Services, 1403 29 Str NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 2T9. E-mail:
tfenton@ucalgary.ca
PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005; Online, 1098-4275).
Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
FUNDING: No external funding.
POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
Updated Information & including high resolution figures, can be found at:
Services http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/139/3/e20162045
References This article cites 47 articles, 11 of which you can access for free at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/139/3/e20162045#BIBL
Subspecialty Collections This article, along with others on similar topics, appears in the
following collection(s):
Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics
http://www.aappublications.org/cgi/collection/development:behavior
al_issues_sub
Growth/Development Milestones
http://www.aappublications.org/cgi/collection/growth:development_
milestones_sub
Fetus/Newborn Infant
http://www.aappublications.org/cgi/collection/fetus:newborn_infant_
sub
Permissions & Licensing Information about reproducing this article in parts (figures, tables) or
in its entirety can be found online at:
http://www.aappublications.org/site/misc/Permissions.xhtml
Reprints Information about ordering reprints can be found online:
http://www.aappublications.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml
The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is
located on the World Wide Web at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/139/3/e20162045
Pediatrics is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A monthly publication, it
has been published continuously since 1948. Pediatrics is owned, published, and trademarked by
the American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 Northwest Point Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, Illinois,
60007. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. All rights reserved. Print ISSN:
1073-0397.